Former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja named Australia's Ambassador for Women and Girls

Updated
Mon 16 Dec 2013, 1:32 PM AEDT

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Natasha Stott Despoja named Ambassador for Women and Girls

ABC News

Former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja has been appointed Australia's Ambassador for Women and Girls by the Federal Government.

Ms Stott Despoja will be visiting and working with developing countries to promote economic development and growth.

The former senator will travel with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop to the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Vanuatu this week.

The visit will focus on how Australia can help encourage women in the region to take up paid work.

Ms Stott Despoja, founding chair of the recently established Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children, described the role as being her "dream job".

"I am excited by the fact that this Government has made clear that gender empowerment and gender equality are priorities for Australia's foreign policy," she said.

"As Ambassador for Women and Girls, I look forward to contributing to the Australian Government's efforts to continue this change, to further in progress.

"I want to see more women in our region, but specifically, in the Pacific, elected to Parliament and taking on leadership roles, be it in government or local government, in business, in the community.

"I want women to have the knowledge and the support that they need to start successful businesses and to increase their families' incomes."

Ms Bishop described the role as Australia's "voice on the international stage" which is "pivotal to our foreign policy priority and initiatives".

"One of the best ways to achieve peace and security and one of the best ways to achieve stronger communities and societies is to empower the women and the girls in your populations," she said.

Ms Bishop will also visit the asylum seeker offshore processing centre on Nauru.

Stott Despoja's record of public service

Ms Stott Despoja, a Senator for South Australia between 1995 and 2008, is the youngest woman ever to enter the Federal Parliament.

She is a former leader of the Australian Democrats and remains the party's longest-serving Senator.

During her political career, she introduced private member's bills on issues including paid maternity leave, the Republic, genetic privacy and stem cells, and data privacy.

Ms Stott Despoja has served as deputy chair of beyondblue, and as an Ambassador for Ovarian Cancer Australia, the Orangutan Project, secondbite - a group providing nutritious food to the needy - and the HIV/AIDS anti-stigma campaign, ENUF.

She has served on the boards of the Burnet Institute, the South Australian Museum (SAM), the Advertising Standards Board and the Museum of Australian Democracy.

In recent years, she has been an election observer for the US-based National Democratic Institute in Nigeria (2011); visited Burkina Faso for Oxfam (2012); and toured Laos (2011) and Burma (2013) with the Burnet Institute.

She is an honorary visiting research fellow at the University of Adelaide and a frequent media commentator.